Tuesday, May 16

• The New York Times reported that on Feb. 14, President Trump asked the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to close the investigation into Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote at the time.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president said, according to the memo, parts of which were read to The Times by an associate of Mr. Comey’s. Mr. Trump fired the F.B.I. director last week.

For a refresher on the Comey-Trump saga, here’s a timelineof what happened leading up to Mr. Comey’s firing and how the White House’s story has changed since.

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• Writing on Twitter, President Trump declared that he had an “absolute right” to share “facts” with top Russian officials during a White House meeting.

While a special counsel would remain ultimately answerable to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein — and by extension, the president — he would have greater autonomy to run an investigation than a United States attorney would.

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• According to a report from McClatchy on Wednesday, during the transition, Mr. Flynn stopped a military plan developed by the Obama administration to fight against the Islamic State, a decision that aligned with the interests of Turkey. During this period, Mr. Flynn failed to disclose that Turkey paid him $500,000 to represent their interests in the United States.

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• On Wednesday evening, The Times reported that Mr. Flynn told the Trump transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for not declaring work as a lobbyist for Turkey, according to two people familiar with the case. Despite the warning, Mr. Flynn took office as national security adviser. He was fired less than a month into the job.

The first stop on the nine-day trip is Saudi Arabia, which is negotiating a $110 billion arms deal with the United States. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, played a key role. Mr. Trump will also visit Israel, Belgium and Italy.

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• Finally, The Associated Press reported that Sheri A. Dillon, President Trump’s lawyer, didn’t want him to certify that the information in his 2016 financial disclosure was true.